Paisley grew rapidly with the cotton industry, in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. It became famous world-wide for the use of the ‘boteh’ motif in the ‘Paisley Pattern’ shawl. Although only a short distance from the expanding metropolis of Glasgow, it retained its own identity. Expansion of the town and surrounding villages continued in the early years of the twentieth century.

The Directory Contents include: Alphabetical and Trades and Professions Directories of Paisley and surrounding villages, together with lists of the officials of religious, political and recreational societies, organisations and official bodies, Distances between Paisley and nearly 200 places in the County of Renfrewshire, Post Office arrangements and a Tramways and Omnibus Traffic Timetable.